President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has declared that the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity industry has failed, accusing the reform programme of plunging workers, households and businesses into deeper energy poverty.
Ajaero made the remarks in Abuja at the annual conference of women and youth of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), where he called for a comprehensive review of the electricity sector more than a decade after it was handed over to private investors.
According to the NLC president, the power sector remains plagued by frequent national grid collapses, poor electricity supply and escalating tariffs despite the promises that accompanied privatisation.
He noted that electricity generation has stagnated at between 4,000 and 5,000 megawatts — roughly the same output level recorded before the unbundling and sale of the former state-owned utility.
“Instead of progress, we witness regression. Instead of light, we have darkness. The national grid collapses with the frequency of a faulty generator, sometimes plunging the entire nation into blackout,” Ajaero said.
He described the privatisation exercise as a “grand deception,” arguing that public power assets were transferred to investors who lacked both the technical expertise and financial capacity to sustainably manage them.
Ajaero alleged that many of the core investors relied heavily on loans from Nigerian banks to acquire Distribution Companies (DISCOs) and Generation Companies (GENCOs), rather than injecting fresh foreign capital into the sector.
According to him, the financing structure weakened domestic credit availability and contributed to pressure on the naira, while leaving consumers to shoulder the financial burden through rising electricity tariffs.
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“They acquired the DISCOs and GENCOs on a shoestring budget and now expect Nigerian workers to pay for their loans through outrageous electricity tariffs,” he said.
The NLC president also criticised the electricity band classification system, which segments consumers based on hours of supply, arguing that it has failed to guarantee reliable power even for higher-paying customers.
“Band A consumers pay through their noses but still receive epileptic power supply. This government is asking Nigerians to pay for darkness. We reject this segregation. Electricity is a right, not a commodity to be auctioned to the highest bidder while the poor are left in the dark,” he stated.
Ajaero further questioned reports that the Federal Government plans to pay between N2 trillion and N3 trillion to GENCOs under subsidy or settlement arrangements.
“The electricity subsidy claim remains a phantom as the 3 trillion naira is another ruse and goes nowhere. We question the rationale behind the Federal Government’s alleged plan to pay between 2 and 3 trillion naira to the GENCOs. We describe it as a clandestine move to ‘settle the boys’ as the 2027 elections approach,” he alleged.
While acknowledging the provisions of the Electricity Act that devolve certain regulatory and operational powers to states, Ajaero argued that decentralisation alone would not resolve the sector’s structural problems without a clear and coherent national framework.
He said the NLC is demanding a national stakeholders’ summit involving workers, manufacturers, consumer groups and sector experts to design a people-centred electricity roadmap.
Such a roadmap, he explained, should prioritise affordable and stable power supply, renewed public investment in generation and transmission infrastructure, and service-reflective tariffs that balance cost recovery with social equity.
“The Nigerian people cannot continue to pay for darkness,” Ajaero concluded, insisting that electricity reform must deliver tangible improvements rather than deepen hardship for citizens and businesses.